Also bukkō 仏工, zōbusshi 造仏師. A sculptor of Buddhist statues.
The term was first used in the Asuka period when sculptors such as Kuratsukuri no Tori 鞍作止利 received commissions from the Imperial court and nobility. His signature, "Tori Busshi" 止利仏師, appears on the 623 halo of the Shaka sanzonzō 釈迦三尊像 in Hōryūji *Kondō 法隆寺金堂, Nara. In the late 7th century, government-sponsored workshops *zōbussho 造仏所 were established to produce Buddhist statues, and each busshi belonged to a workshop.
As the number and size of commissions increased, there was a division of labor where skills became increasingly specialized. There were busshi expert in woodcarving; metal-casting; painting of statues *saishiki busshi 彩色仏師; jewelery *kazari busshi 餝仏師; and gold-plating *hakushi 薄師. The sculptor in charge of the workshop was known as the *daibusshi 大仏師 or zōbutsu chōkan 造仏長官, and the team of assistants working under him were called *shōbusshi 小仏師. An example is the daibusshi Kuninaka no Kimimaro 国中公麻呂 (?-774), who supervised the building of the 757 Great Buddha *Daibustu 大仏 at Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara. In the late 8th century, the government-sponsored sculpture workshops were closed down, and busshi were either employed by a temple or ran their own independent workshops *bussho 仏所. Sculptors associated with temple workshops were also monks, and from the 9th century, daibusshi were given the status of high-priest. They did not carry out religious duties, but held an honorary title that indicated their high social standing. For example, Eri Sōzu 会理僧都 (852-935) was the chief sculptor and high-priest at Tōji 東寺 in Kyoto.
From the middle of the Heian period, most Buddhist sculpture was carved in wood, and people often referred to Buddhist sculptors as wood sculptors *kibusshi 木仏師. The joined-block technique *yoseki-zukuri 寄木造, used for large wooden statues in the late Heian period required a large workforce, and a daibusshi sometimes had several hundred assistants. The most important busshi to set up independent workshops in the 10th century were Kōshō 康尚 (11th century) and his son Jōchō 定朝 (?-1057), who reportedly had 120 shōbusshi working for them. The Jōchō style *Jōchōyō 定朝様--typified by Amida Nyoraizō 阿弥陀如来像 (1053) in Byōdōin *Hōōdō 平等院鳳凰堂, Kyoto--greatly influenced subsequent generations of sculptors. Followers of Jōchō later divided into groups that included the Nara sculptors *nara busshi 奈良仏師, based at Kōfukuji 興福寺, and various schools of Kyoto sculptors *kyoto busshi 京都仏師.
In the Muromachi period, busshi lost their special status and came to be classed as general artisans. The system of daibusshi and shōbusshi was abandoned in the early Meiji period. A number of Buddhist sculptors worked without affiliation to a temple and sometimes without a workshop or assistants. The best known cases are the wandering busshi, Enkū 円空 (1633-95) and Mokujiki Myōman 木食明満 (1718-1810). Enkū's works, roughly carved from single blocks of wood, have a directness that is totally different from the refined works of traditional workshop busshi.